The Dangerous Things
by TemporaryFaerie
Summary: The Labyrinth is merely one of many kingdoms in the Underground and Jareth is merely one of many Keepers. What would happen if Sarah returned to the Underground under dangerous circumstances? Would he be able to save her or would ancient laws prevent it?
1. Chapter 1

**The Dangerous Things- Chapter One  
By TemporaryFaerie  
Disclaimer: Only partially mine (in the sense of "I wrote it and inserted a few original characters"), not for profit, merely for entertainment. Based entirely around the work of the minds behind "Labyrinth".  
Author's Note: I wrote this a while back, but took it down to rewrite a few parts that needed it, as well as tweak the grammar a bit. Hopefully it will make a bit more sense than it used to.  
**

**(---) **

The sun was high in the sky, illuminating the brown and barren expanse of lands before the window. He frowned at the sight. These lands had once been beautiful... they had once been green and lush, colorful with flowers...

But then his father had been murdered in battle, shocking some people who held tightly to the misconception that the King and his family were immortal. That had opened everyone's eyes. They may not pass away from old age and illness like regular mortals, but the Keepers of the Labyrinth most certainly weren't immortal. Though there were a variety of ways to kill a Keeper, most died in battle, fighting whatever wars they deemed worthy to actively take part in.

Jareth had never cared for war, or anything that went with it... his mother had tried to teach him about the history and politics of the Underground and a few surrounding kingdoms, but it was obvious he didn't care. The only things he wanted to learn about were the arts and the humans and their world. So his mother had taught him all she knew about those things, reasoning that maybe when he found out that the humans were the closest cousins to the Keepers he would want to know more about the Keepers and all of their kingdoms.

She'd been wrong. He hadn't wanted to learn about the Labyrinth, and she was certain that he couldn't solve it if they took his powers away. His mother had only shaken her head at all of this and decided that it would be alright, surely they'd have another child who could care for the Labyrinth when Zacharias died, as unlikely an occurrence as that seemed... but no, Zacharias had died before another could be born to rule in Jareth's stead, and since it was an ancient law that women weren't to rule the Labyrinth, the task had been passed on to Jareth. She had searched for a way to keep him from it, to save her child from a fate he abhorred, theorizing that since the other kingdoms could have female rulers, surely the Labyrinth could as well. It was not so, however, and she did not succeed.

With the death of Zacharias came the death of the Labyrinth. Jareth had been livid about having to run it, and had become one of the harshest rulers the Labyrinth had ever known. His mother had tried to reason with him, but he had never been the reasoning type.

And so, all of the beauty in the Labyrinth had slowly deteriorated away. His mother had tried to encourage him into caring for the Labyrinth; into going out into the Kingdoms and finding a wife... but Jareth would have none of it. He was too busy sulking in his castle, trying to devise ways out of being the King. He refused to participate in any of the battles of the surrounding Kingdoms as his father had, and his father before him, and so on and so forth.

And then one day, a special girl wished away her baby brother, and he became instantly enamored with her. Unfortunately for everyone involved, she did an unthinkable act. She turned him down, defeated his Labyrinth, and escaped back into the mortal realms of the Aboveground.

**(---) **

Jareth sat on his throne, idly watching the goblins hurry about in that senseless way, throwing one another aside, causing occasional brawls and mini riots until Jareth interfered.

'It truly is heartbreaking that my talents must be wasted here, watching these stupid asses running around,' he mused to himself, looking out the window. Though never learning much about his Kingdom and the proper ruling techniques he had always been quite brilliant, a real intellectual, and he'd marveled at learning everything he possibly could about things that interested him.

"Sire?" A voice asked. Jareth looked down to see one of those stupid goblins waiting to be acknowledged.

"What?" He asked, not showing the least bit of actual interest.

"Sire, you have a visitor... the lady-mother, sire."

Jareth paused, then got up in a hurry, cursing himself for forgetting that she was coming to visit. As he rushed down one of the halls towards his bed chambers, he called out to the goblins, "Tell her I'll be just a moment, just a moment and then I'll see to her... have her wait in the..." He paused, wondering where he should have her wait. The chamber room was a royal mess. "Have her wait where she is!"

He slammed the doors as the goblins hurried off to do their job. He whirled around, throwing open his wardrobe and picking an outfit normally saved for balls and such. When he had changed he hurried to the entranceway where his mother stood, waiting patiently for her only child to arrive.

"Mother!" He called out, greeting her with a bow.

Angeline smiled at her son, "Jareth. What a pleasure to see you! How I have missed you, my son. Let me look at you."

Jareth stood for his mother's inspection while she rattled on about her travels in the surrounding Kingdoms, knowing full well that he'd probably heard about each of the Kingdoms she spoke of fifty other times.

"Well, my, my. You are looking splendid, dearest. I don't see why you haven't settled down yet. You could have any woman you wanted, my dear."

Jareth only smiled at his mother a bit, thinking to himself how the one woman he did want had been the one woman he apparently couldn't have. She continued to talk as his thoughts centered on Sarah.

"And then he says to me, Jareth? Are you listening to me?" Angeline asked, looking at Jareth peculiarly.

"Yes, Mother. I'm listening."

"Oh... well, I was just saying how King Mandrin was telling me of his travels... he went to the Aboveground and such, in case you were wondering. He says the most charming human stumbled into his Kingdom the other day, still won't tell me just how a human gets into his Kingdom. I don't understand why all of the Kings are so intent on keeping their secrets, its not as if any of us other Keepers are going to go around telling humans the secret phrases and secret entrances... anyway, the most charming human stumbled into his Kingdom! He wouldn't give me many details on the circumstances surrounding her... Are you sure you're listening?"

Jareth smiled at his mother, "Of course I am. The most charming human, Kings being secretive, et cetera, et cetera."

Angeline grinned at her son, "Let's go for a walk outside, shall we? I'm rather hot myself... But King Mandrin, he took me to see the girl, all the while telling me how she was the most absolute gorgeous thing he'd ever seen. I expected her to be treated as a guest, but do you know where he had her?"

Jareth just shook his head.

"He had her locked in the dungeons! The poor girl. She was every bit the jewel he said she was... I had no clue as to why she was there, so I asked him. He got all uppity about me and how I was spying for you, even threatened to throw me in there with her!" Jareth made a mental note to send Mandrin a response to that threat. No one threatened his mother. "But in the end he told me why... apparently he'd decided she would make the perfect queen for him and when he told her- told her, didn't even offer her a choice as a respectable Keeper would- she was to be his bride, she got absolutely livid!"

Jareth wondered idly for a moment if his mother ever quit gossiping. "It sounds like a reasonable thing to do," he replied, knowing it was the answer expected of him.

"Exactly what I said. But then I was talking to Mandrin's mother, Katrinela, remember her, Jareth? You met her a few times as a child, I'm not sure you've had many dealings with her since you became King though, seeing as you're the only one who refuses to take interest in the other Kingdoms. Well, Katrinela and I were talking and she told me how the poor girl had been mistreated by Mandrin, nothing bad, just the fact that he wasn't exactly gentlemanly to her, had made some advances at her, and she'd smacked him for it! That's what landed her in the dungeons, the poor dear... I wouldn't be surprised if Katrinela managed to help the beauty out a bit."

Jareth nodded along with his mother's comments, his head beginning to throb at the speed of which his mother talked. As much as he loved the woman, she did get to be a bit much.

"Oh Jareth... I wish you would get out and see the other Kingdoms..." his mother sighed.

Jareth didn't bother to reply.

After countless hours of gossip and a dinner, Angeline had kissed her son goodbye and left him to fall into bed exhausted.

**(---) **

Feedback is Love.  
Constructive Criticism is Orgasmic.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Dangerous Things- Chapter Two  
By TemporaryFaerie  
Disclaimer: See previous chapter.  
Author's Note: I wrote this a while back, but took it down to rewrite a few parts that needed it, as well as tweak the grammar a bit. Hopefully it will make a bit more sense than it used to. Thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed. It means a lot to me, and makes writing a bit more worthwhile.**

**(---)**

"A fine mess you're in now, Sarah," she muttered to herself, leaning against the wall, fighting off the wave of hopelessness that threatened to overtake her. "Locked in some godforsaken dungeon with a captor who does not understand 'no'."

"Yes, it is a bit of a mess," a voice replied. Sarah jumped a little bit at the sudden noise. Looking through the small, barred window in the wooden door, she saw Lady Katrinela, the King's mother. "My son has been acting highly inappropriate and is treating you wretchedly. So I've decided to help you."

"Really?" Sarah asked, breathlessly, almost afraid to believe it.

The door opened and Lady Katrinela held her hand out. "Come along, dear. We must be silent. I'll take you out of the castle, but you've got to get out of this Kingdom on your own. Your best bet will be to get to the Kingdom to the west," she nodded in a direction, "Because you'll be a bit better off then. The Keeper who is King there is a Fae... He's the most likely to help you, dearest."

Sarah nodded as they entered a garden, just outside the castle. Lady Katrinela patted her hand, "Good luck, my dear."

"Thank you, ma'am," Sarah said, looking at her before taking off at a run toward the direction she'd been pointed.

**(---)**

The run had long since slowed into a walk when she heard the noise and the chaos started.

Sarah turned a bit to see horses running towards her, each one's rider equipped with a long weapon and a torch. And of course, leading the way, there was King Mandrin.

"Sarah! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING? YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME!" he roared at her.

Swearing under her breath, she took off into a lush green forest, praying for the strength to outrun the riders. She wondered momentarily how she had managed to get into this mess.

She could hear him behind her, so close she could almost hear his breathing. She shuddered, but didn't dare stop.

"Sire! This is the forest! It isn't our land... we'll be killed if we were to be caught... by the King or the creatures in the forest!" one of Mandrin's men yelled.

"YOU WILL BE KILLED IF YOU DISOBEY ME! CATCH HER!" Mandrin replied.

Sarah couldn't help but be a little bit thankful that she was in a new Kingdom, the one Katrinela had told her of.

She almost stumbled as she heard a voice near her whisper softly, "Well, well, visitors..."

"Not too often we get those, boys..." a deeper one replied, chuckling. She barely registered that these voices must belong to things in the forest, all of them hidden from her view, not that she was wasting time or energy on looking around.

As her strength left her, Mandrin tackled her to the ground; just as she lost consciousness, she saw it.

A fiery.

Before she could open her mouth---.

**(---)**

When she woke up, Sarah moaned a bit. She was lying in a bed of twigs, surrounded by Mandrin and his men, and, as she noticed, a few body parts. Apparently the fieries still tried to pull you apart. She shuddered as she rolled a bit, coming face to face with an arm. She stifled her scream, taking deep breaths to calm down.

She sat up slowly, trying to focus on anything but the bits and pieces of men around her.

"Damn those little bastards, I was sleeping..." a voice muttered. She glanced behind her to see goblins coming into the forest, starting to gather up the pieces, trying to wake up the men. The voice couldn't belong to a goblin though...

She tried to speak, but only managed to groan in pain. Mandrin had probably broken something when he tackled her...

"Sire.. This one is awake!" a goblin yelled.

As Sarah's head fell forward a strong, yet gentle hand caught it.

"Sarah?" a voice whispered in disbelief.

She looked up into his face, whimpering out, "You."

And then she fell...

**(---)**

Jareth scooped up the limp girl, careful not to hurt her and at the same time checking her over for missing limbs or such.

"Gather everything and, er, everyone. Bring them back to the castle, put them and the pieces that go with them into guest rooms. Have doctors try to re-attach anything that can be saved. Alert me when Mandrin has awoken." With that, Jareth hurried to the horse he'd ridden down. The goblins would have to make do on their own. If they weren't capable of surviving in the forest on their own, they deserved whatever the fieries gave to them.

As he rode the short distance to his castle he swore to kill the fieries if they had hurt Sarah. He was already angry... he'd been asleep when the goblin came running into his room. There were apparently screams coming from the fieries' forest. He hadn't dreamed of finding Sarah there.

Sarah... his Sarah... why had she been there? Surely Mandrin hadn't been chasing her... had he?

He took her into his bedchambers, ignoring the questioning goblins along the way, immediately putting Sarah onto his bed, tucking her in gently. He left the room for a second, finding a goblin and sending him for a doctor.

He paused in the doorway, looking down at the sleeping girl. Not only did he have to deal with her now, he had to deal with those stupid asses from the other Kingdom. Apparently they hadn't known that all you had to do was fake sleep and they'd go away. They never did like dealing with people who wouldn't respond to their torture...

"Sire?" a goblin asked. He twirled around, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhm... King Mandrin... he... ah, he woke up..."

Jareth nodded and walked to the room the goblin motioned to.

King Mandrin was sitting up in bed, still weak from the looks of him, but overall intact. "Jareth!" he exclaimed as the other King entered the room. "Just the Fae I was hoping to talk to!" He chuckled at his joke, since most Keepers were men. Jareth was a special case. "Anyway... right to my point, Jareth. I was wondering if those damned creatures of yours harmed my pet?"

Jareth paused. Surely this man, this obstinate man did not mean his Sarah. "If by pet you mean the girl-"

"Well what else could I mean?" Kind Mandrin asked exasperatedly.

"-Then no. She's fine, resting right now." Jareth chose to ignore the interruption, anger coursing through his body at the man's reference to Sarah as if she was a possession to be owned.

"I'd like to see to her then."

Jareth nodded and began to lead the way to his room, fully aware that Mandrin intended to take her back with him into his Kingdom. He was also aware that he would do everything in his power to kill the man before letting that happen.

**(---)**

Sarah had managed to sit up, a pretty good feat considering the bruise on her back had slammed it her when tackling her. She was in Jareth's castle, and from the crystals strewn around and the gorgeous clothing, it seemed that she was in his room. She wasn't quite sure if that was good news or bad. Surely it had to be better than Mandrin's castle, and it was definitely better than the forest… but good?

"Umm.. Jareth? Er.. your highness thing?" she called out, her own voice killing her head. "Jareth whatever the hell your last name is? Are you there? Anywhere? Something."

That was when he entered the room, closely followed by Mandrin.

**(---)**

Feedback is love.  
Constructive Criticism is orgasmic.


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